More Than a Roof: Roland Garros' construction woes

The French Open’s absent roof was almost more of a talking point during the first few days of play (or lack thereof) than any of the matches. The clay-court Grand Slam is the only major to not have the luxury of continuing play through rain and darkness. (The U.S. Open's roof will be ready for this year's tournament.)

The original project for a newly constructed Roland Garros planned to have a retractable roof installed over Philippe Chatrier by this year, but the date has been forced back to 2020.

The roof is just one part of the planned overhaul, but progress is on hold because, among other problems, local residents and environmental activities have taken legal action. A ruling is expected in September.

A number of players, including Novak Djokovic, Serena Williams, Rafael Nadal and Garbine Muguruza are part of the #NouveauRolandGarros campaign in the efforts to help get construction to continue:

The smallest of the majors is also hoping to build a 5,000-seat court in the Serres d’Auteuil botanical garden to replace Court No. 1. Environmentalists claim the construction could harm vegetation in the nearby greenhouses. Roland Garros’ plan states that the project would maintain greenhouses devoted to tropical flora around the new court.

Other renovations include a new tournament organization building, an extension to the Place de Mousquetaires and a new media center.

The renovation project first came to fruition in 2010, just another indication of how slow things are moving.

Roland Garros, Extension project from ArtefactoryLab on Vimeo.